Lunyungu

JF-Expert Member

Lunyungu

JF-Expert Member

REPORTS of alleged killings of three members of the opposition in Zimbabwe
this week could be marking the beginning of unrest in the troubled
southern African nation ahead of the presidential election run-off
scheduled for June 27, this year.

We strongly condemn the reported petrol-bombing of opposition offices at a
rural business centre by suspected ZANU PF party militia that led to the
death of three members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

According to a statement by the opposition party, four more members were
missing after the bombing on Tuesday night, while two others were
critically injured and were receiving treatment in hospital.

It is shocking to learn that the thugs involved in this nasty incident
were in army uniform. We ask ourselves: What does this mean? Could this be
a ploy by the government to intimidate the opposition as the presidential
election run-off nears?

Reports of the latest killings have come amid other reports that soldiers
and ZANU-PF activists had beaten and threatened to shoot Zimbabweans who
wanted to meet and support Tsvangirai.

We would not like to believe what MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said while
campaigning in Bulawayo early this week that President Robert Mugabe is
determined to turn the whole country into a war zone in order to subvert
the will of the people and steal the June 27 elections by any means
possible.

We urge the police in Zimbabwe to investigate all the incidents thoroughly
and take necessary steps to ensure that the criminals are brought to book
immediately. Steps should also be taken to prevent similar incidents
before and after the election run-off.

Zimbabwe will be holding a second presidential election after electoral
authorities said MDC leader Tsvangirai defeated President Robert Mugabe in
a March 29 election but failed to garner more than 50 per cent of the vote
required to takeover the presidency.

The MDC has all along been accusing Mugabe of unleashing state security
forces and ZANU PF militias to wage violence against the opposition
partys supporters and structures in an attempt to regain the upper hand
in the second ballot.

The opposition party says that at least 50 of its members have been killed
in political violence over the past two months while several thousands
more had been displaced from their homes.

Let the Mugabe administration be warned that such acts could easily spark
genocide we have witnessed elsewhere.